Vietnamese Rice Paper rolls

Over the Christmas/New Year break I went to Vietnam to visit my brother who is living in Hanoi and teaching English. I had a terrific time. I was pretty short on time so only had time in Sapa, in the mountains. Sapa is known as a picturesque trekking town. It is quite cold there (hovered between 0 degrees and 5 degrees) and there was a heavy mist most of the time I was there, which was disappointing because we only had occasional glimpses of the pretty views.

I adore Vietnam. Most of all, I adore the food. The flavours are so fresh and fragrant. There are some great Vietnamese restaurants in Brisbane. I love AJs for a quick and cheap lunch time noodle soup (70 Charlotte Street, Brisbane city). I also love the Vietnamese in Wickham Street for a delicious vegetarian rice paper roll (170 Wickham Street, Fortitude Valley).

I like to make Vietnamese rice paper rolls for dinner - they are pretty easy to throw together after work, healthy (to help me shift my post holiday weight!), cheap and very tasty.

This isn't really a recipe, but more a meal idea.

Rice Paper Rolls with roasted soy chicken

To make the roasted soy chicken (from Bill Granger's Bills Open Kitchen)

150gm fresh ginger, finely sliced

2 tbs caster sugar

125 ml oyster sauce

125 ml Shaoxing rice wine

1 tsp sesame oil

4 chicken breasts

Combine the ginger, sugar, oyster sauce, Shaoxing rice wine and sesame oil in a bowl and stir to combine. Add the chicken, cover with plastic wrap and marinate for at least three hours.

(At this stage, I often freeze a chicken breast or two in a ziplock bag with some of the marinade until I need it. If you are cooking the chicken for the rice paper rolls you will only need 1 chicken breast per two people.)

Preheat the oven to 220degrees Celsius. Sear the chicken with a little oil in a frying pan. Remove the chicken when golden and place on the baking tray. Brush lightly with the marinade and cook for 10 - 12 minutes.

Remove from the oven and cool. When cool, shred the chicken.

To serve the rice paper rolls

Vermicelli noodles, cooked according to the packet (perhaps half a packet per 2 or 3 people)

Carrot, julienned (perhaps 1 carrot per 2 or 3 people)

Cucumber, julienned (perhaps 1 cucumber per 2 or 3 people)

Shredded Vietnamese mint and coriander (half a bunch of each should be enough for 3 people)

Rice paper wrappers (I think each person will eat about 4 wrappers)

Dipping sauce (recipe below)

To serve, place the chicken, noodles, carrot, cucumber and mint and coriander in bowls on the table. Place the rice paper wrappers and a bowl of boiling/hot water on the table.

To serve, soften the rice paper wrappers in the hot water. Place the wet wrapper on the plate and top with a little vermicelli, chicken, cucumber, carrot, mint and coriander, drizzle with dipping sauce. Roll the wrapper up, tucking in the sides.

Enjoy! Messy but yummy.

Dipping sauce

60ml fish sauce

60ml lime juice

2 tbs rice vinegar

1 tbs palm or caster sugar

1 garlic clove, finely chopped

1 large red chilli, seeded and finely chopped

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and stir until the sugar is dissolved